[CM] THE CASE

To me, Dad will always be a real-life superhero, now, always, always. —Bindi Evan

Griffith's phone rang a second time before his consciousness broke away from the abyss of sleep.He has a problem, if he drinks alcohol at night, he will sleep very deeply the next day, and he is prone to get up gas.But it was his mobile phone that woke him up, Griffith could only hold back his dissatisfaction, and answered the phone: "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Foster Griffith? This is the Las Vegas Police Station." A strange female voice said.

police station?

Griffith woke up instantly: "Yes, what happened?"

"That's right, we found a corpse, and the identity of the victim was verified through DNA testing. It was James Griffith." The female voice said calmly, "I'm sorry, but I hope you can come to cooperate with the investigation."

Griffith didn't know what to say anymore.

He didn't know how the phone hung up, or when Reid woke up.A hand gently pulled away his phone, and Reid knelt beside him.

"Griffith?" Reid called tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Griffith said nothing.

"Foster?"

Griffith suddenly grabbed his wrist and took the phone back: "I'm fine, the call is from the police station, she said... she said..." The words stuck in his throat, he swayed and fell back bed.

The whereabouts of James was Schrödinger's cat, and the black box weighed heavily on his heart like a curse.But the incantation to break the curse was in his mouth, so he couldn't say it.

"…I'm going to go," Griffith said.He avoids Reid's gaze, who doesn't miss the water in his eyes.

"Where's the police station? Do you need to book a plane ticket? Do you want to call Hotch?" Reid pressed, handing him the sweater, "I can go with you...if you don't mind, or if you need it?"

"Thank you, no need." Griffith's voice was muffled in his clothes, maybe it was an illusion, it sounded a little choked.He seemed to have noticed this too, so he slipped out of his collar in silence, trying to move past Reid sideways, as if he didn't exist.

Reid couldn't take it anymore and dragged him back.The dazed man bumped into him without a fight, and Reid's hands slid down to wrap around his waist.

To hell with safe distance!

"Foster, I don't know what's going on, but I think you should calm down," Reid said quickly, and at the same time, his hand was still on Griffith's head, and he couldn't help rubbing it.

"No matter what happens, I will be with you, no need to panic. I'm not saying, I'm not saying that you are not strong enough, I just, you, I, I worry about you. So once you need it, be sure to tell me, I Will help you in any way I can. I swear!"

Griffith moved, as if trying to break free from Reid's grip.

Reid was afraid that he would punch him when he raised his head - thinking about it in another way, Reid felt that he would definitely do it.His aggressive momentum just now was like a deflated ball, and he froze in place, desperately pressing Griffith into his arms.

Griffith struggled to no avail, so he hammered it: "Let go."

He clearly felt Reid tremble, and slowly let go of himself, his eyes wandering around, but he didn't dare to fall on him.

In just a few minutes, his turbulent emotions were overwhelmed by Reid, leaving a sour warmth in his heart.

"I'm going to take a shower," Griffith said. "You get ready too. We'll go to the local police station. James...they found James' body."

Reid reflected on who James was, and then his super brain gave him a hard wake-up call: James! James Griffith! Griffith's adoptive father!

Reid was walking back and forth in the narrow hallway when Griffith's cell phone rang again.He wanted to knock on the door to remind him, but suddenly realized that the sound of the water was wrong, leaned against the door and listened for a while, and could hear faint sobbing.The ringing died down, and Reid glanced at the screen that hadn't gone dark yet, it was Gideon's call.

Within a few minutes, the phone rang again, and Reid picked it up quickly, lowering his voice: "Hi, this is Reid."

Gideon put the phone away, double-checked who he was talking to—Foster Griffith, yes—and brought the phone back to his ear: "Reid?"

"Yes, Foster is taking a shower." Reid forced his composure, "What's the matter? I can convey it."

"Oh, it's nothing." Gideon didn't seem surprised, "Just tell him, I just arrived in Las Vegas, and I'll wait for him at the police station. Rossi is also there, he's an old friend of James, maybe he can help busy."

What are Gideon and Rossi doing in Vegas? Wasn't James' death an accident?

This conjecture made Reid look serious. After all, the non-accidental death of a former FBI agent is not a trivial matter: "I know, I will tell him."

"Also, I'm sorry, and I ask his condolences."

"……Um."

Griffith turned off the shower. He looked in the mirror and decided that the crying marks weren't particularly serious, so he wiped his face and got ready to get dressed.The sweater was at the bottom, and Griffith couldn't help but think of Reid as he held it.

Reid might not have noticed, but he was wearing this sweater yesterday, when they kissed.Although Griffith had little experience with kissing, he also knew that it was almost nothing. Reid was so tense, as if he could put poison gas in his mouth, which, in hindsight, kind of hurt his pride.

He smiled lightly, and the curved corners of his mouth were quickly pressed back, which seemed to be a half-smile.He didn't force himself, he put on his sweater and opened the door to go out.

Reid is like a middle school student who has made a mistake. As soon as the door opened, he jumped up and said incoherently: "I just answered your call. First, let me say that I didn't mean it, and then I'm sorry. Uh, that call was Gideon called, he said he was at the police station, and Rossi—do you know who Rossi is? The best-selling author, former BAU crew member, by the way, I love his books. No, I That is to say, he said he was your father's old friend, and he should be able to give you some help."

Griffith looked blank.When he is in a bad mood, he rarely shows it on the outside, and it's no wonder that the "cold-blooded" sticky note followed him for so long when he was a child.Just because others can't see it, doesn't mean Reid can't see it. Reid was afraid that something might happen to him, so he washed quickly, before Griffith's bag was packed, Reid ran out of the bathroom, waving his hands constantly: "Well, do you need me to accompany you?"

Griffith nodded.

"Then I, you wait for me." Reid scratched his hair, "I'll be soon."

Rossi enjoys his coffee slowly while Gideon paces back and forth anxiously.

"Don't worry, we can find out the truth and give James a clean slate."

Gideon kept walking: "Not this one."

"And you're worried about little Griffith?"

"Not this one either."

Rossi looked at his back: "No?"

"……half."

"Oh, it looks like it was the phone call just now?"

"No, it's fine." Gideon cut him off bluntly, "Let's discuss the case, is the victim's autopsy report out?"

Rossi opened the report: "It's been too long, many physical evidences have been corroded, and there are very few clues. Judging from the traces on the bones, the cause of death should be stab wounds. The knife appeared to be fatal."

"Excessive harm, does that sound like an impulsive crime?"

"No, part of the wound shows signs of healing, it may be a long-term torture."

"So it's a planned crime," Gideon said. "It's getting complicated."

"I don't expect it to be easy," Rossi said. "James has been away from the United States for so long, I can't think of any enemies he has."

"We have quite a few enemies, and they may have escaped after being locked up for such a long time."

"So, whose MO is this like?"

"It doesn't look like that." Rossi shook his head. "He didn't have any special tricks, but he was cautious. The place where the body was hidden was very hidden. If it wasn't for this accident, James might have been missing all along and died by default."

"Did the forensic find a matching murder weapon?"

"No, but we've blocked the river and they're salvaging it."

Gideon frowned: "It's useless."

"Always try." Rossi shrugged. "After so many years, I don't know where he was thrown into the river. If he was handled separately, the clues would be even more difficult to trace."

"I hope the forensic team can find the matching murder weapon sooner, so that they won't be helpless." Gideon finally sat down, and the police came to knock on the door. Rossi looked up and heard him say, "Well, Mr. Griffith is here."

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